Research Finds Manufactured Home Community Residents Under No Greater Threat of Crime

CHICAGO, IL, September 03, 2010 (Press-News.org) Residents of manufactured home communities are under no greater threat of crime than those in site-built communities, according to researchers at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Trailers and Trouble? An Examination of Crime in Mobile Home Communities by William P. McCarty, assistant professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Justice took a look at crime in mobile and manufactured home communities. The findings: there is no significant difference between the rates of crime in manufactured home communities relative to other residential areas.

"Work like this is critically important in helping to end the stigma that still exists against manufactured homes," says MHMSM.com publisher L.A. Tony Kovach. "It's wise advice to remain alert everywhere, but as the study reinforces, manufactured home communities are safe and healthy places to live. In some cases, this study shows, manufactured home communities are even safer than 'traditional' site built neighborhoods."

In an exclusive interview with MHMSM.com, McCarty expanded on the findings. He suggested that crime in manufactured home communities may be dependent on how well the residents know one another and that crime can decrease when more residents in a manufactured home community own their home.

"I became interested in mobile (Pre-HUD Code homes) and manufactured home communities due to the persistent stigma against this type of neighborhood," McCarty told MHMSM.com in an exclusive interview. "Even though the perception existed that these places were bad, I could not find a study that actually used solid data and methodology to test those negative assertions."

The results of the study suggest that cities and other municipalities should not be so reticent to allow the creation or expansion of mobile home communities. However a more positive treatment of manufactured housing by planning commissions is undoubtedly difficult to achieve given the prevailing negative sentiment regarding mobile home communities.

McCarty offers some additional insights into crime and mobile home communities in a special feature Q&A with MHMSM.com. Members of the media are welcome to review the feature. It's available at this link: http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/blogs/industry ...

About MHMSM.com: Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management trade journal, a.k.a. MHMarketingSalesManagement.com or MHMSM.com, is the largest and most popular media outlet that focuses on factory built housing, including top feature writers and industry focused news.

Note to media: mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com staff and Industry experts are available to discuss issues related to modular, prefab and manufactured housing, the federal HUD code for Manufactured Housing and other factory built housing topics. Call us at 847-730-3692.